Iron Gwazi - Wikipedia

In October 1995, Anheuser-Busch announced the closure of its Tampa brewery, which had operated in the middle of Busch Gardens Tampa Bay since the park's inaugural year, 1959.[1][2] The brewery closed in December and was demolished afterwards.[2][3] To replace the brewery, the park chose a wooden roller coaster rather than one made of steel due to growing preferences for older-style attractions. The park wanted to differentiate itself from other Florida theme parks, which had modern ride technology.[4]

Mark Rose, the park's vice president for planning and design, chose the builder for the wooden roller coaster after touring several amusement parks over 17 days.[4][5] He made a shortlist of five roller coasters, seeking a prospective designer for a new Busch Gardens attraction, and eventually settled on Great Coasters International (GCI) for the project based on the company's Wildcat installation at Hersheypark. Officials for Busch Entertainment (later renamed SeaWorld Entertainment) confirmed the choice and signed GCI.[4][6] Washington University in St. Louis helped research the new roller coaster name, Anheuser-Busch selecting Gwazi.[4] The name Gwazi represents a mythical African lion with a tiger's head that struggles with inner conflict.[4][5]

In early June 1998, Busch Gardens Tampa Bay considered adding a resort on site to compete with other Florida amusement parks, including a projected $10 million attraction scheduled to open in 1999.[7][8] By mid-month, park owner Busch Entertainment filed a trademark for the name "Gwazi" with the United States Patent and Trademark Office.[9] Busch Gardens announced its plan to add a pair of dueling wooden roller coasters named Gwazi on July 15,[10][11] with groundbreaking taking place that day.[12] The dueling roller coasters would be built as the park's fifth roller coaster, the two tracks themed to a "Lion" and "Tiger" to correspond with the respective dueling theme.[12][13] The announcement also revealed that GCI would be building the roller coaster.[12][14] The Tampa Tribune ran pictures of the hills under construction in November.[15] Gwazi was reported to have been re-designed several times during construction.[6] By April 1999, it was near completion,[16] and testing began in May.[5]

Operation

To promote the opening of Gwazi, park officials sold "first ride" tickets for the preview event in June 1999; of the 5,700 tickets sold, 3,500 went to Busch Gardens Tampa Bay passholders. Approximately 500 members of American Coaster Enthusiasts were in attendance.[17][18] Construction of the roller coaster's theming and removal of excess wood were ongoing during the preview event.[18] Gwazi opened the next day as Florida's first dueling wooden roller coaster[19] and the first wooden roller coaster at any Busch Entertainment park.[12][20] Busch Gardens promoted the attraction as the largest and fastest dueling wooden roller coaster in the southeastern United States.[21]

Gwazi developed a reputation for delivering a rough ride over time despite regular maintenance.[22][23] The Lion's track was replaced with new wood in 2009, and the Tiger side re-tracked the following year.[24] After both tracks were refurbished, the last part of the renovation included the installation of four GCI-designed Millennium Flyer trains in 2011 to replace the trains originally supplied by Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters (PTC).[24][25][26] Even with re-tracking and new trains, the wooden roller coaster remained difficult to maintain, and ridership continued to decrease.[23] The Tiger side closed following the 2012 season, and soon after, the park built a pedestrian bridge across its loading platform; one of its trains was relocated to the Lion track.[22][27]

The closure of the Tiger side prompted rumors from amusement park enthusiasts that Gwazi's operation would be terminated in the near future.[22] In December 2014, Busch Gardens Tampa Bay confirmed the closure of the remaining Lion side due to low attendance, operating costs, and negative guest feedback.[28][29] Gwazi's last train dispatched in February 2015.[22][30] The trains were relocated and used on rides at other SeaWorld park locations, including InvadR at Busch Gardens Williamsburg and Texas Stingray at SeaWorld San Antonio.[31][32] SeaWorld Entertainment repurposed wooden planks from the structure within the same park and at other properties, including SeaWorld Orlando.[33]

Refurbishment and relaunch

Rose, vice president of park services, stated there were no plans for the Gwazi site after its closure, although the park was considering possible replacement attractions.[34] A park spokesperson added that engineers discussed adding new elements, manufacturing steel parts, or completely demolishing the structure.[35] In the three years after the closure, rumors circulated about a possible replacement of the wooden structure, speculating it could be a remodeled roller coaster, a new attraction, or an amphitheater.[36] During a September 2018 news conference announcing the park's ninth roller coaster, Tigris, officials said there were construction plans for Gwazi in 2020.[37][38] The same day, SeaWorld Entertainment applied to trademark the name "Iron Gwazi".[39]

An internal SeaWorld Entertainment presentation was leaked online to the public in October 2018, which showcased several projects under development across its parks, including a replacement ride for Gwazi as a "high-thrill hybrid roller coaster".[40][41] Later in the same month, Busch Gardens filed a demolition permit with the city of Tampa for parts of the Gwazi site.[41] In December, updated construction-permit applications sent to the city of Tampa listed Rocky Mountain Construction (RMC) as the ride manufacturer of an upcoming attraction in the Gwazi area.[42][43] Site preparation and construction started in late 2018 for an attraction code-named "BGT 2020".[44]

In March 2019, the park announced Gwazi's replacement with a hybrid roller coaster conversion by RMC. Busch Gardens promoted the attraction as North America's steepest, fastest, and tallest hybrid roller coaster.[45][46][47] By August 2019, the placement of the roller coaster's track had begun.[48] Busch Gardens revealed the following month that the roller coaster would be named "Iron Gwazi" and that it would be 206 feet (63 m) tall with a 91-degree drop and a maximum speed of 76 mph (122 km/h).[49][50] During the 2019 International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA) Exposition in November, RMC unveiled the trains for Iron Gwazi.[51][52] RMC completed track work on March 8, 2020,[53] and testing began the next day.[54][55]

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the initial opening date was missed, and testing halted after a week.[54][56] RMC filed a lien against SeaWorld in May 2020 for $3.5 million of the $9 million the company said it was owed for work on Iron Gwazi, delaying further construction.[57] As a result of the pandemic, SeaWorld Entertainment's preliminary second-quarter results for 2020 incorporated several approaches to reorganize its assets, one plan being to postpone the opening of all 2020 attractions to the following year.[58][59][60] The park said in September that it scheduled to open Iron Gwazi in 2021,[61] and it released a point-of-view video of the roller coaster two months later.[62][63] In August 2021, Busch Gardens postponed Iron Gwazi's launch date a second time, to 2022.[64]

In January 2022, the park specified a final launch date in March of that year.[65][66] The park hosted a media preview for Iron Gwazi in February.[67][68] The roller coaster soft opened for passholders on February 13,[69] and it opened to the general public on March 11.[70][71] Iron Gwazi debuted as the tallest hybrid roller coaster in North America,[72][73] as well as the fastest and steepest hybrid roller coaster in the world.[67][72] Iron Gwazi and Zadra at Energylandia, another RMC-built roller coaster located in Poland, are tied as the tallest hybrid roller coasters worldwide.[63][74]